JOHN FISHER, TEAM HONG KONG: Well, I broke my collarbone when I was playing before. But normally if you're doing everything right, you should be OK, you know. It's the same as any sport that's high risk.

(Footage of band playing God Save the Queen is shown)

HUEY FERN TAY: Some of the world's best have returned since the club hosted the inaugural Snow Polo World Cup in 2011.

No matter where they're from, be it England, Australia or Chile, all of them have polo in their blood.

DIRK GOULD, TEAM AUSTRALIA: My father was a professional polo player. He played in Australia working for Kerry Packer, playing for Kerry Packer. My uncle played professionally on my mother's side. My mother played.

HUEY FERN TAY: But this is polo in the snow, and something they all say takes a little getting used to.

JACK RICHARDSON, TEAM ENGLAND: I thought it was a bit of a ridiculous idea not having played it, but since I got here, no, I like it.

HUEY FERN TAY: Everything about the sport, the club, and this event is expensive. The horses are from Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. The snow, man‑made, with a marching band and opera troupe flown in from Argentina.

(Standing in the middle of the polo field): This entire area used to be a wasteland up until a few years ago when property developers and promoters of polo sensed an opportunity to appeal to the desire of the Chinese upper class for the finer things in life.

(Footage of polo field being prepared is shown)

The polo clubs in China are eager to cater to a market with one of the highest concentrations of rich people in the world, and one of the promoters, a Hong Kong investment company, hopes it can entice some to buy nearby luxury properties in Tianjin, an area still undergoing something of a building boom.

DEREK REID, TIANJIN GOLDIN METROPOLITAN POLO CLUB: I think it is changing, Tianjin, very quickly. There's a lot of development taking place here and the polo certainly, most people in Tianjin know about polo now.

(Footage of band playing Australian National Anthem is shown)

HUEY FERN TAY: China may still be years away from having its own polo team capable of taking on the world's best, but it seems that it is just a matter of time before the country's growing elite take up the sport most often associated with the rich and famous of the west.